there is a common love for tradition. It is a constant variable and if everything is changing, there is still that unchanging, familiar embrace.

It was another routine day at McDonalds. 8-4 Monday through Thursday. People come in, order, eat, and leave. The same stupid questions are asked:

them: "What are the specials today?"
me: "we have the Big Mac with a Medium Fry for two dollars. We also have the ninety-nine cent McChicken Sandwich"

them: "How much does a ____ cost"
me: I turn around and look at the menu that is directly behind me and I take my time browsing the menu and when I have taken enough time and have given them enough time to find the price themselves, I tell them.

them: "do you guys have the Elvis Stitch head bobber toy this week?"
me: "nope...sorry. We don't."

These questions are common but what is even more common is the people who come in every day. We must not be far from the retirement home, because all of the regulars and most of our customers, are senior citizens. There are two customers in particular that intrigue me. Chris and Anna. A couple that are about the age of my grandparents and have come in every morning for about 8-9 years.

Chris goes to sit down and Anna comes up to order the same thing that she gets every day. She explains it in detail even though I've already rung it up before she has started to order. She orders a hot cakes and sausage with two heated syrups and 2 freshly brewed senior coffees. She makes sure the order comes to the same price of $2.88 as she has her money poised and ready she waits expectantly for me to say. "That comes to $2.88 Anna." She will always commend me by saying something like, "you got it right on the nose," or "you nailed it." Anna doesn't stop talking as her silent husband nods and gives grunts of approval every now and then. Most of the time he asks her to repeat herself because he didn't hear her, or sometimes he will say "I have no idea what you are talking about." This usually produces a dismissing wave of the hand from Anna.

They sit and Anna talks to anyone who is sitting near. As I clean up the lobby I can see the expressions on people's faces as they sit and stare straightforward and look like they are about to cry. They try to look as uninterested as they can to somehow cause Anna to stop talking. I took my break around the same time they were there and got to listen to some of their conversation. I only heard a few random things here or their that Anna said to her quiet husband. I was fairly entertained. Here are a few of them:

"the Dodgers were knocking it to the other team last night."

"I think there is chlorine in my water. It smells like it. My friend says they put chlorine through the water system once a year, to clean it. Let me try some of yours... Yours tastes normal."

"My friend wants to send her children to a christian school. I told her why not a public school? They are just as good as christian schools if not better. I know a person who went to a christian school and they couldn't even get a job as a teacher. I know another person who never went to a christian school in his life. He graduated from a school in Illinois called Wheaton college and became something important. Christian schools are for the birds."

"hamburgers and fries cause cancer...it's true."

anna: ...french fries chris: FRENCH FLIES? anna: no...french FRIES. chris: flies are in the fries? anna: Fries! chris: oh

Sad I was going to miss the rest of the conversation, I went back to the cash register and started taking orders.